Baird Welch-Collins Seeks 38th House Seat

WATERFORD, CT — Two-term Waterford RTM member Baird Welch-Collins announced his candidacy for State Representative in the 38th District Tuesday.

At Tuesday's Waterford Democratic Town Committee meeting Welch-Collins declared his candidacy for the district that covers Waterford and southern Montville. He has been invited to meet with Montville Democrats on Feb. 13.

"This area has gone for many years without a proactive voice in Hartford. Our transportation infrastructure is unacceptable," adding that Interstate 95 and 395 are "woefully and dangerously unsuited for the traffic they carry on a daily basis," he said in a press release.

"Montville and Waterford continue to lose well-deserved municipal funding for schools and roads while the share of pension and insurance costs keep climbing," Welch-Collins said.

Among his concerns, he said, include "the town’s stalled business development and the financial losses from Millstone’s inevitable closing."

"As State Rep, I will work tirelessly with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring a regional voice and bipartisan resolutions to protect our future and quality of life," Welch-Collins said.

He ran for the 38th district seat in 2018, losing by a three percent margin. Since then, he said, he has "remained focused on the neglected issues which face Waterford and Montville."

Welch-Collins sits on the Public Protection & Safety Standing Committee and serves on the Long-Range Fiscal Planning Committee and as Treasurer of Waterford’s Flood and Erosion Control Board.

He is a lifelong Waterford resident. He graduated from Connecticut College with honors and teaches social studies at Lyman Memorial High School in Lebanon. Welch-Collins works as a Violence Prevention Educator in New London.